The Empire Strikes Back: Climate, Fires, Insurance, and Payback, w/ Dave Jones

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Fires in Los Angeles at last count had $35 billion plus of insured losses and probably $300 billion plus of economic losses. Who should pay?

Here to help decode that we spoke with Dave Jones - former Insurance Commissioner for California from 2011 through 2018. He's now the director of the Climate Risk Initiative at University of California, Berkeley. He recently wrote an oped in the New York Times arguing that the oil companies should have to pay for the damages of the LA wildfires, to arrest the insurance crisis.

Steve Coulter of the Green Alliance here in the UK expands on, slight tension, conundrum, paradox. Steve talks about his recent briefing on this point, particularly focusing on Lloyd's of London.

And, um, finally, our good friend, returning champion, Dana Drugmand, journalist, publisher of Climate in the Courts and One Earth Now, who's been helping us understand these issues in the US nearly a year now. She helps us explore the counteroffensive launched against the Empire State’s 2024 Climate Superfund law by 22 Republican state attorneys general who filed suit against state of New York to challenge the law signed by Governor Kathy Hochul at the end of last year. Dana compares that to some of the other pushback to the first-of-its-kind bill that was passed and signed into law earlier last year in Vermont.

06:35 Interview with Dave Jones: Background and Climate Risk

08:22 Insurance Industry's Role in Climate Change

10:11 Holding Fossil Fuel Companies Accountable

15:03 Subrogation and Legal Actions

18:12 Impact on Insurance Markets and Homeowners

20:15 Financial Risks and Regulatory Responses

38:39 Mitigation Measures and Legislative Actions

48:06 Industry Split on Sustainable Practices

49:09 Lloyd's of London: A Case Study in Poor Performance

50:33 The Growing Uninsurability Crisis

53:53 Government Intervention and Systemic Risks

56:33 Call to Action for Policymakers

59:50 New York's Climate Superfund Law and Legal Challenges

01:07:34 The Broader Implications of Climate Litigation

01:22:40 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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